The Unknown UltimateX
by Tori the Hanyou
Summary: Bit always thought his Liger-Zero and the Berserk Fury were the only Ultimate-X Zoids, until he discovered a new one called the Ligress. He also finds out about a family divided, the parents dead, and the three siblings separated. A dramatic tale. BitLena
1. The Beginning

Tori the Hanyou: Okay, after receiving some encouraging reviews, I've decided to continue this story, even though its not very popular . . .but who cares? I never have, and I never will! Thanks you guys, for supporting me! I've revised Chapter 1, so it's easier to read, and you can tell who's speaking, so lets go!  
  
DISCLAIMER: I didn't do this before, sorry, but I do NOT own Zoids, classical, or new whatever it is, or Fuzors.  
  
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Zoids: The Unknown Ultimate-X  
  
Chapter 1: The Mysterious Zoid  
  
Lena Toros swerved to avoid the attack from the charging D-Bison, but it wasn't easy in her Gunsniper, fully loaded with ammo. She was lucky that Sebastian had been piloting the D-Bison; any other pilot would've hit her. Harry Champ was in a Zaber Fang, and his other robot, Benjamin, was in another D-Bison.  
  
Bit Cloud and his Liger-Zero were having fun with Harry, running around boulders, dodging every one of his ammo assaults.  
  
Brad in his Shadow Fox was having just as easy a time with Benjamin, who obviously wasn't very good at piloting. Brad ran behind some boulders to avoid the shots, and then fired back.  
  
Lena eventually lost Sebastian in the boulder maze, and ran up to a high cliff, concealing herself behind some trees and yet another large boulder. She shifted the Gunsniper into Sniper mode, and took aim at Sebastian, who was still searching stupidly for her in the maze. She fired, and the D- Bison's back leg shattered, bringing Sebastian down. Lena then turned and aimed at Harry's Zaber Fang, but he was actually moving too fast for her to properly aim, which meant that Bit and the Liger must have been moving at the speed of light.  
  
The Liger hadn't even needed to transform to take these guys on. Lena decided to rid Brad of his burden, and aimed at the remaining D-Bison, but Brad was way ahead of her, and he shot it down. By now, Harry had run out of ammo from continuously trying to shoot at the ever-evasive Liger. Bit came around a tight corner from behind, and used a Strike Laser Claw to take out the Saber Tooth. The alarm sounded, and the robotic judge announced,  
  
"The battle is over! The battle is over! Victory goes to...the Blitz Team!" Bit laughed. Now the Blitz Team had been promoted to an even higher level. Harry, HaHfggdfghfgdghzdgHHPlus, all of them had earned a bunch of individual experience points. Jamie circled above in the Raynos, cheering. He hadn't needed to participate much in this battle, but he was happy, anyway. The Liger roared proudly. Lena jumped out of the Gunsniper, stretching. Harry climbed out of his damaged Zaber Fang and stormed up to Bit.  
  
"This isn't over! We'll get you next time!" he yelled.  
  
"What next time?" asked Brad.  
  
"Next time we fight you!" answered Harry.  
  
"There won't be a next time for you guys, at least not until you get a higher level," said Lena.  
  
"Yeah, and until that happens, you guys aren't really worth fighting," said Bit. Still fuming, Harry stomped back to his Zoid to wait for his cargo ship. The Blitz team headed back to the hover cargo to repair any damages on their Zoids.  
  
That night, Bit was up late, trying to figure out which transformation to use on the Liger in the next battle. He was looking over the blueprints of each transformation. "The Lightning Team has extremely fast Zoids, but I've beaten them before with the Jager. I could probably do it again, but they know the Jager's movements. The Panzer's out, definitely, since Liger can't even move with it on. Maybe Schneider..."  
  
Suddenly, Liger woke up, alert. "What is it, boy?" he asked. The Liger opened up the garage door, and raced out. "Hey! Wait for me!" yelled Bit. Twenty black Raynos Zoids were outside, hovering over the cargo ship. The Liger growled at them, putting up his spikes. Bit caught up with Liger and glared at the Raynos. "They must be from the Backdraft Group. Six of the Raynos suddenly shot out a bunch of grappling hooks, attaching them to Liger, and slowly lifted him into the air. Liger thrashed, but it didn't help. "Liger!" yelled Bit. A Command Wolf stood nearby, surveying the project. Bit ran at it, and called out to the cockpit, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
  
"The Liger-Zero belongs in the Backdraft Group. A novice such as you does not deserve to be its pilot."  
  
"Shut up! Liger and I are a perfect team! You're just jealous 'cause Liger didn't decide to be in the Backdraft group when it had the chance to."  
  
"Well, say goodbye to your Liger! He won't remember you when we erase his memory!" The Command Wolf turned and was about to vanish when a huge, dark shadow appeared in its path.  
  
"I don't exactly approve of stealing, or erasing a Zoid's memory," said a girl's voice.  
  
"Huh?" Bit looked through the darkness, trying to see what the shape was. It looked just like the Liger, but...  
  
"I don't think my Ligress does, either. She seems to be pretty upset." A roar similar to Liger's echoed through the night. Liger answered the call from his position in the sky.  
  
"Ha! Who do you think you are, trying to foil the Backdraft Group's plans? What's more, you think you can do it single-handed! This is priceless!" The Command Wolf pilot began to laugh, a horrible, shrill, wheezing laugh.  
  
Two extra Raynos tried to fire at the shape, but it dodged the attack with super speed, and shot then down. The shape fired again, and the lines holding Liger snapped near the middle in a straight line, and Liger fell, landing on his feet. He got down on his stomach and Bit climbed into the cockpit. Bit aimed at the Raynos and nailed the six that had tried to steal Liger. The dark shape fired at the rest, and turned to face the Command Wolf. "You better watch what you do, especially if it's illegal," she said. The shape turned and ran off into the darkness. Bit looked after it, but Liger had other ideas. He took off after the vanishing shape.  
  
"What are you doing, Liger?" Bit asked. Liger didn't answer; he kept running after it. "At least I'll be able to thank whoever that was for saving Liger. I wonder who she is." The shape stopped, and turned around. Liger caught up with it. The moon appeared from behind the clouds, and Bit saw the Zoid. It was almost the same as Liger, it had a white body, with gold claws, but it was slimmer. It looked almost like a white Zaber Fang, but there were more spikes on it, and you could definitely tell it wasn't one, even from far away. Bit squinted at the cockpit, trying to see who it was. He could only make out a girl's form, but nothing in detail. "Hey, I wanted to say thanks for helping Liger back there. What team are you with?" he asked.  
  
"I'm solo," the girl answered.  
  
"Oh, what type of Zoid is that?" he asked.  
  
"This is the Ligress-Zero. I know about your Liger-Zero, he's an Ultimate-X Zoid, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Bit answered. "Hey, you wanna come meet my team?" The Ligress turned her head toward the nearly full moon.  
  
"Umm, it's late, I should get going," said the girl. She turned the Ligress and they disappeared into the night. Liger roared after them, but Bit told him to stay.  
  
"Too bad, I didn't even get her name." Suddenly, Jamie and his green Raynos came flying overhead.  
  
"Hey, Bit, how's the Liger? You guys OK?" asked Jamie.  
  
"Yeah, we're fine, Jamie. Boy, did you miss something here! I'll tell you about it when we get back to the hover cargo."  
  
When they reached the base, Bit took Liger into the garage and shut the door. Jamie landed the Raynos too, and they went up to the head cockpit, from which the hover cargo was piloted. The entire Blitz Team was in there; Dr. Toros, Lena's dad, was on the big screen computer, looking up info on the Lightning Team, their next opponent. Lena and Brad were on the couch across the room, drinking coffee. Bit got some coffee and sat down next to Lena.  
  
"What the hell happened out there?" asked Lena.  
  
"Liger was nearly stolen by the Backdraft group again. We were lucky, thanks to that girl."  
  
"What girl?" asked Jamie.  
  
"She was piloting something that looked like a girl Liger. I never got her name, but she sounded pretty young by her voice, and I never saw her face too clearly."  
  
"A girl Liger? This I gotta see. Which way did she go?" asked Lena. "We can ask her to join our team if she could take down that many Raynos with a single assault, and move that fast."  
  
"She said she was a solo-fighter, but I don't see what the problem would be in asking her to join. She was pretty tough, and really fast, but I don't know if you'd be able to catch her in your Gunsniper. She was headed east, by what I could tell."  
  
"Whoever said I was gonna use my Gunsniper? I'm gonna borrow the Raynos and zip after her." Lena said.  
  
"HEY! Who said you could use my Raynos?" Jamie asked adamantly.  
  
"I don't see the problem, Lena, just don't crash it or damage it," said Doc. "But you can't search for her until morning. You can leave at dawn."  
  
"Thanks, Dad. Night, guys." Lena walked out of the room and downstairs.  
  
"But, Doc, Lena hasn't piloted the Raynos much. Heck, she's barely piloted any high-speed Zoids, for that matter. She's bound to crash it," complained Jamie.  
  
"I don't see what you're worried about, Jamie. We've got a week before our next battle, so if she does damage it, we'll have plenty of time to repair it," said Doc.  
  
Still muttering to himself, Jamie walked out of the room and went to bed. Bit explained more about the mysterious Zoid and its even more mysterious pilot. Doc perked up immediately when Bit mentioned that the Zoid was a Ligress-Zero.  
  
"It can't be," he muttered to himself.  
  
"What?" asked Bit.  
  
"That can't have been the Ligress-Zero. No one has seen or heard of that Zoid in five hundred years. It vanished a long time ago, after ridding the world of a very powerful, yet evil Zoid. Some say it went to the center of planet Zi, others say it went to a ruin hidden from the naked eye. And still others say it wandered Zi, invisible. Nobody is sure where the Ligress has been hiding these past centuries, but to see it back again, Bit, that's really something. You sure you weren't dreaming?" Bit was adamant.  
  
"Doc! Liger would be gone if I was dreaming! That girl and the Ligress saved him! In fact, I'm going with Lena to find that girl tomorrow, and even if she doesn't accept to being on the team, I'm bringing her back here to prove that I wasn't seeing things!"  
  
"Fine, Bit, I'd like to see this Zoid myself, anyway," said Doc. Bit and Brad went off to bed, leaving Dr. Toros to his computer.  
  
The next morning, Bit and Lena headed off in the Raynos and the Liger-Zero Jager.  
  
"You sure she went this way, towards the east?" asked Lena. "Yeah, it was about 2:30 in the morning, so the moon was setting. She went in the opposite direction of where the moon was headed," explained Bit.  
  
"Okay, we'll go for a few hours. Since it was that late at night, she couldn't have gone that far. Let's go top speed and see if we can catch her."  
  
"I'm with you all the way. Let's go, Liger! Catch that Ligress!" Liger roared and shot off into the plains, the Raynos zipping overhead.  
  
Bit searched the horizon for any kind of shape. Liger suddenly stopped, nearly throwing Bit through the windshield. "What's the deal, Liger? Jeez, you nearly killed me!" Liger lowered his head, sniffing. He turned and started running southeast. Lena suddenly turned the Raynos around, nearly losing control of the super speed Zoid.  
  
"Where are you going, Bit? You said she went in this direction!" Lena called as she zoomed after the Liger.  
  
"Liger's got the Ligress's scent. She's headed this way!" called Bit as Liger tore off into the desert. Lena followed quickly.  
  
Suddenly, Bit's searching proved successful. A moving shape appeared on the horizon. "There she is!" called Bit. Liger put on his full speed and raced after the distant shape. Lena put the Raynos in high speed and followed Bit. The distant shape stopped and turned around. "Hey! She sees us!" yelled Bit. It was definitely the Zoid he'd seen the other night. Lena landed the Raynos next to her, and Liger skidded to a stop. Lena yelled out,  
  
"Hi, there, I'm Lena!" The figure opened up the door and jumped out. On the ground stood a young teenage girl with shoulder-length dark blonde hair with light blonde streaks, brown eyes, and was about five foot seven inches tall. Lena jumped out of the Raynos and walked up to her. "You're a Zoid pilot?" she asked, apparently shocked.  
  
"Yeah, why? Is there something wrong?" asked the girl.  
  
"No, not really. How old are you, anyway?" asked Lena.  
  
"Fourteen," answered the girl.  
  
"Wow, you must be pretty good to have gotten your Zoid license at this young of an age," said Lena. Bit walked over.  
  
"Yeah, I didn't get mine until a year ago," he said.  
  
"So, where do you live?" asked Lena.  
  
"Nowhere, Ligress and I just travel around," said the girl.  
  
"What do you do out here by yourself?"  
  
"The Zoid Battle Commission pays me to go bust illegal Zoid pilots and those who mistreat their Zoids. I find them, knock them around if they refuse to go quietly, and bring their Zoids back to the commission. I liked doing it at first, but it's getting boring now," she explained.  
  
"Do they know how old you are?" asked Bit.  
  
"Yeah, at first they tried to prove I wasn't a real Zoid pilot, and they tried to take my Ligress away, but she stood up for me. They almost just sent me away, but since they seemed to be really impressed about this thing called an Ultimate-X Zoid, they decided to put me to work, and it really pays, big time," explained the girl.  
  
"What? They said your Ligress was an Ultimate-X??" cried Lena.  
  
"Yeah, I don't see what the big deal is, though," said Tori.  
  
"Are you kidding me?? You don't know what an Ultimate-X is?" asked Lena.  
  
"You must have a lot of individual experience points," commented Bit.  
  
"Yeah, but I really don't pay attention to that. The cash I've got is enough to last me for quite a long time. But I do wish I could really test my skills. Some of these bozos I take out couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag, and the most challenging one I've had to face took me a mere minute to take down," the girl said, sighing.  
  
"Why don't you become a fighter?" asked Bit.  
  
"I could, but I'd have to ask the Zoid commission, and even if they let me, I don't have a team I could join," said the girl.  
  
"You do have a license, don't you?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm registered as the Ligress's pilot."  
  
"Well, then all we'd have to do is ask the commission," said Bit.  
  
"But what about . . ." the girl began.  
  
"You can join our team," said Lena.  
  
"I can? Seriously?" asked the girl.  
  
"Yeah, our boss already said it was okay," said Bit.  
  
"Alright," said the girl.  
  
"Great, you can come to our hover cargo and use our phone to call the commission. I'm sure they'll say yes," said Lena. "What's your name, anyway?"  
  
"Tori," answered the girl.  
  
"Hello, Tori, nice to meet you. You already know I'm Lena, and that's Bit," said Lena.  
  
"Is that your Zoid?" asked Tori, pointing to the Raynos.  
  
"Nah, that's Jamie's. He's actually about your age, about two years older. I thought I'd be stuck as the only female on our team forever," said Lena.  
  
"Well, you won't be if the commission lets me fight," said Tori.  
  
They all climbed back into their Zoids and headed back. It was late evening when they reached the hover cargo.  
  
"Put the Ligress in here, next to my Gunsniper," said Lena. Tori moved the Ligress into the garage, but Ligress started getting a little antsy about being in there. Tori jumped out, but Ligress didn't want her to leave.  
  
"Just stay here, girl, if the commission says we can fight, you'll have to get used to it, but if they say no, then we're out of here, ok?" asked Tori. Ligress made a small noise in her throat. Tori walked out of the garage and followed Bit and Lena up the stairs into the head cockpit. Doc was looking up all possible information he could find on the Ligress-Zero when they walked in.  
  
"Dad, meet Tori, the Ligress-Zero's pilot," said Lena. Doc turned around.  
  
"Hello, there. My! Aren't you young to be piloting an Ultimate-X Zoid?" asked Doc.  
  
"The commission said it was okay," answered Tori.  
  
"Dad, please explain to Tori what an Ultimate-X is," said Lena.  
  
"She doesn't know?" asked Doc.  
  
"No," said Lena.  
  
"An Ultimate-X is a Zoid that far exceeds the average power limits of an ordinary Zoid, meaning it's faster, stronger, and has more firing power than normal," explained Doc.  
  
"Oh, so that's why the Zoid commission was freaking out when they ran Ligress's first checkup, and they found a black box located inside her head and neck area," said Tori.  
  
"That black box is sort of a symbol that a Zoid is an Ultimate-X. Some think it's the extra power-supply that gives them those advantages like speed and strength. So far, I only know of now three Zoids that have those black boxes, the Liger-Zero, the Berserk Fury, and your Ligress-Zero. I almost didn't believe it when Bit here told me about his encounter with your Zoid, since the Ligress disappeared about five hundred years ago, and no one's seen or heard of it since." Lena walked in just then, having left in the middle of the conversation.  
  
"I just phoned the commission, and they said that Tori was more than welcome to join the Blitz Team, on one condition," she announced. The room was quiet. "She has to go to the commission tomorrow to take a test to see if she qualifies to be on a team." Tori smiled.  
  
"I can do that," she said.  
  
"Great! So, you can share my room tonight. There are two beds," said Lena.  
  
"Okay," said Tori. Lena led Tori out of the room and down the hallway to her room. Bit, Brad, Doc and Jamie stayed in the cockpit to keep talking.  
  
"Told ya I wasn't dreaming," said Bit.  
  
"Hey, Doc, let's go see if this Zoid really is the Ligress-Zero," said Jamie, speaking for the first time since Tori arrived.  
  
"Alright, I want to see it for myself as well. Imagine! Two Ultimate-X Zoids on our team! We'll be unstoppable! Not even those Lightning Sykes can keep up with the speed of a Ligress-Zero!" said Doc. They all headed down to the garage, Bit went on ahead while the rest of them talked. When Bit reached the garage, the lights were on over the spot where Tori had parked the Ligress, and he heard talking, along with the sound of a very restless Zoid. He hid behind a large crate to listen and watch.  
  
"It's ok, girl, nothing's decided yet," came Tori's voice.  
  
"What's the matter with her?" asked Lena.  
  
"She doesn't like confined areas, she was locked up in a big, cement box for over five hundred years before I let her loose, and she almost went crazy when I had to leave her in the Zoid commission's garage to go talk to the people and got caught up for a few hours. When I came back, all the Zoids in there seemed very uneasy about something, and I heard roaring down the garage. When I arrived in the area where I'd left Ligress, there were many commission workers trying to tie her down, and she was thrashing around, roaring, hissing, slashing at the walls. I'll never forget the fear I saw in her eyes . . ." Tori sighed. Ligress calmed down after hearing Tori's voice, and lowered her huge head and nuzzled Tori. Bit watched, feeling sorry for her. He snuck back to the wall and turned on the main lights. He saw Ligress raise her head quickly and look back. Bit walked over to where Lena and Tori were.  
  
"Hey, there, how's Ligress doing?" he asked.  
  
"She's very uneasy about being in a confined space," explained Lena. The rest of the Blitz team arrived in the garage, and Doc inspected the Ligress.  
  
"Yep, she's definitely the Ligress-Zero, and what an amazing Zoid she is, very similar to the Liger in shape, but slightly smaller and much slimmer. The coloration's almost identical as well! We have a very fine Zoid in our midst here!" reported Doc. After much talking, (Bit never told anyone he'd overheard the Ligress's story) everyone decided to get some rest.  
  
"You've gotta take a test tomorrow," said Lena.  
  
"Yeah, I know," said Tori. Everyone went up to their rooms. As Tori lay in bed, she couldn't help the sad memories flooding through her mind of Ligress's phobia of confined, closed areas. Her exhaustion finally overcame her and she went to sleep.  
  
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Tori the Hanyou: Nothing new here, except for the revising, and the author notes! I've taken the discontinuation note off (yippee!) but I need some popularity on this story for encouragement, so please review people, so I can have some confidence on this. Cya! Tori the Hanyou  
  
P.S. Here are the people I want to recognize for helping me:  
  
Biddett da Pigeon Stalker: Thanks for your encouragement! I really appreciate it! Yeah, I'll use that idea you had about the brother being in the Backdraft group. I have a big brother, so I'll stick him in there. Thanks again! Be seeing you!  
  
Silver: Yeah, I know about Inuyasha, I have a fic for it, you know, if you want to check it out. Anyway, thanks for helping me out, and I'll email you, mine is orcatori1202j@hotmail.com. Happy Holidays! 


	2. The Test

Tori the Hanyou: Once again, I thank the reviewers for helping me get back on my feet! I'll try to update as much as possible, but now I'm having to keep up with four stories, so don't expect them to be fast, or very frequent, I hope you understand. Anyway, get on with my first new chapter for this story in over a year, Chapter 2: The Test  
  
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Zoids: The Unknown UltimateX  
  
Chapter 2: The Test  
  
Morning dawned quickly as the sun peeked over the hills, shining brightly into the windows of the Blitz Team hover cargo.  
  
"Jeez, sun, go away, will ya?" muttered Lena sleepily. Tori heard her, and opened her eyes. After nearly freaking out that she wasn't on the ground out in the middle of the plains with her Ligress beside her, she realized where she was, and the memories of yesterday, and jumped up.  
  
"Oh, my test is today!" she said. Lena, hearing her, sat up quickly.  
  
"Oh, my God, I forgot!" she said. "Today's the day we find out if you get to join us, though I'm absolutely positive it's going to be a yes!"  
  
The girls quickly dressed, and went downstairs, where Bit and Brad were the only other guys up.  
  
"Where's everybody else? We gotta go help Tori today with her test!" cried Lena.  
  
"When I walked past their rooms, all I heard was snoring," said Brad quietly.  
  
"DAAAAAAD! JAMIIIIIEEEE! GET YOUR LAZY BUTTS OUT OF BED NOW!!!!!" Lena nearly screamed the roof off.  
  
Off in the distance of the hover cargo, a huge flock of birds flew off.  
  
Tori had dove under the table with Brad and Bit to avoid having her ears blown off. When she pulled her hands off of her ears, her head was ringing.  
  
"Jeez, Lena, how do you get the lung capacity to scream so loud?" asked Brad, crawling out from under the table, dragging Bit with him, who had persisted to hang onto the main table leg until Lena was done. Tori came out after them, shaking her head.  
  
Five minutes later, Doc and Jamie came down, dressed, looking like they'd been awoken with an air horn.  
  
"Lena, did you have to wake us up like that?" asked Jamie. "Even slamming us over the heads with pillows would've been nicer."  
  
"You guys, today Tori has to take that test to see if she can be on our team," said Lena. The two nodded.  
  
After breakfast, Doc drove the hover cargo to the Zoid commission office. Lena jumped out, dragging Tori and the rest of the team with her, heading into the front office. They stopped and Lena and Doc went up to the front desk to ask if they could speak with the head of the Zoid commission. It wasn't too long of a wait before they were ushered into another room.  
  
Tori walked right to the other side of the room; where a large desk was, and behind it sat a man in a Zoid army uniform with many shiny badges on it. He stood up and greeted Tori with a handshake.  
  
"Welcome back, Tori. I understand you wish to join the Blitz Team," he said.  
  
"Yes, sir, I'd very much appreciate if I could. I would like to fight in actual battles," responded Tori.  
  
"Well, what's the matter with how you're fighting now? You get to fight outlaw Zoid pilots who steal or mistreat their Zoids, I don't see anything wrong with that."  
  
"Not to be ungrateful, sir, I'm very happy to have been honored with working for you in crime-fighting, but I'm afraid there's no real fighting in it. The criminals I fight are too easy to take down, sir." The leader sighed.  
  
"You're one of our best law-enforcers, though, Tori."  
  
"I know, sir, but I think my Ligress and I need a challenge now. Our fighting abilities are gathering dust because there's no need to use them."  
  
"Alright, I see there's no convincing you. Head out the door down the hall on the left and speak with the people out there. They will report to me if you pass the test or not."  
  
"Thank you, sir! I appreciate this greatly!" said Tori happily. Lena led the way out the door.  
  
"Alright! The commission leader said it was okay in person! Now all you gotta do is pass a stupid test, and you can get into the REAL action!" squealed Lena. Tori nodded.  
  
Some people outside were dressed in Zoid pilot uniforms. They walked up to the group.  
  
"Are you the Ligress-Zero pilot?" asked the front one.  
  
"Yes. I'm here to take a test," said Tori.  
  
"Very well, come this way. Have you brought your Zoid?" asked another one.  
  
"Umm, one second," said Tori. She turned and whistled. All was silent for a second, until vibrations began to emit through the ground. They heard a roar, and the Ligress came flying over the fence into the yard, skidding to a stop. "There she is." said Tori. The pilots stared at the Zoid. Ligress walked over, bending down so Tori could get in the cockpit. She straightened up. "So, where do we go?" came Tori's voice from the Ligress's voice box. Still staring, one of the pilots went over to the building and flipped an enormous switch. The ground began to tremble, and walls appeared just to Tori's right, shooting out of the ground.  
  
When the dust cleared, Ligress was facing an opening in the walls. She growled, ready for a challenge. The pilot who'd flipped the switch jumped onto a platform, which rose to a control center on the side of the commission building. From the control center, he said into the microphone,  
  
"All right, this is what you have to do. First, you have to get through this maze and around each obstacle within a time limit. I can't tell you what the obstacles are, that would be too much of an advantage. There will be one final obstacle at the end of the maze that will not be timed, but if you do not reach it in ten minutes, you fail the test, and do not get to overcome it. Are you ready?"  
  
Ligress roared. "Ready!" came Tori's voice.  
  
"GO!" yelled the pilot. Tori and Ligress zipped off into the maze and around a corner, vanishing. The other pilots came up to the rest of the Blitz team.  
  
"Would you like to see the final obstacle?" one asked. They all nodded. They were led up a flight of stairs in the side of the maze, and into a set of bleachers on the walls of a huge arena.  
  
"Whoa! So she has to fight one of you as the final test?" asked Lena.  
  
"Yes, and we are specially trained for these sort of fights. Usually, the Zoid and pilot are exhausted at the end of the maze, and we have to be ready to try to take them down," said the pilot.  
  
"Has anyone ever passed the test?" asked Jamie.  
  
"Yes, there were a few, but they were VERY skilled and experienced pilots, so we don't know how this one's going to do," replied the pilot. One of the other pilots left the group and jumped down into a Saber Tooth, lined up next to a bunch of other Zoids, like Gunsnipers and D-Bisons. "We have several Zoids that reflect different strengths to oppose the test- takers with. The Ligress-Zero is a high-speed Zoid, therefore we will use a speed Zoid to take her on," explained the pilot. He pushed a button, and gates opened into the arena. The Saber Tooth walked in, and the gates closed behind it. "Now we wait," said the pilot, "You may check the progress of your friend on the big screen up there." He pointed to the opposite side of the arena, where a large screen rested on top of the bleachers, showing Ligress jumping between several silver spikes as they rained down on her.  
  
Tori swerved to avoid the falling obstacles as she and Ligress raced on. She felt Ligress's excitement building. Now here was a real challenge. Suddenly, up ahead, more spikes closed together to make a wall. 'Guess I gotta jump it,' thought Tori. Ligress sensed her thoughts, and picked up enormous speed, leaping almost effortlessly over the wall, landing lightly on the other side. Tori smiled. They were making great time. Suddenly, metal whips lashed out at them, trying to grab onto Ligress. But, Ligress roared angrily and picked up speed, snapping the whips right off the walls. She raced around the corner, and suddenly, a bomb popped out of the wall, landing right in the middle of the road.  
  
"Hurry, Ligress! Jump over it!" yelled Tori. Ligress did as she was told, leaping over the bomb, but, just as they were about to make a safe landing, the bomb exploded, sending Ligress off balance, and causing her to fall. They skidded on Ligress's shoulder until they came to a stop. "Ligress! You OK?" asked Tori. In response, Ligress jumped up, shaking the fall off. They turned and kept running. 'Good thing we jumped it. Stopping would've delayed us a lot longer, and if we hadn't jumped when we did, Ligress might've been blown to bits,' thought Tori. They soon saw an opening, and a timer next to it. It read 3:32, and it was counting down. 'That must be my time!' thought Tori as she and Ligress blitzed into the arena when a loud buzzer went off.  
  
A mechanical voice rang out,  
  
"Time completed, 6 minutes and 28 seconds!" Tori heard cheering, and looked up to see Lena, Jamie and Bit waving at her. Lena was doing the cheering. She smiled, but suddenly felt Ligress growling. She looked over to see the Saber Tooth approach her.  
  
"Okay, so my final obstacle is to fight you?" asked Tori.  
  
"Yes, you won't be timed," said the voice.  
  
"Let the fight begin!" yelled the pilot in the control box. The Saber Tooth approached Ligress at a full run. Tori didn't need to do a lot of telling, Ligress could sense what she was thinking, and just as the Saber Tooth was about to slash at them with its claws, Ligress leaped into the air, landing on her opponent, and jumping off quickly to finish the combo attack with a few slashes from her own claws before she leapt away to avoid any surprise attacks. The Saber Tooth staggered to its feet, and Tori could see its right front leg sparking. That was where she would hit again when she ever got the chance. Now that she'd done that attack, her opponent would be a little more prepared for it. She ran through her long list of combo attacks in her mind as she leapt over the charging Saber Tooth again. She got an idea in mid-jump, and Ligress reached down with her claws, slashing at the right leg again. She landed, and turned around. No more evading. Now was the final attack. The Saber Tooth charged again, and this time she met it full on. "Okay, Ligress, DO IT!" she yelled. Ligress leapt at the opponent, finishing it off with one more deadly blow to the right leg, making it collapse. She'd won.  
  
"WOOHOO! You GO Ligress! YEAH!!!" screamed Lena as Ligress added insult to injury by letting out her victory roar. Bit covered his ears as best as he could, but he was positive he'd be deaf for the next few hours.  
  
Tori walked out of the commission about twenty minutes later with a file folder containing the paper work stating she was an official Zoid fighter, and that she was a Blitz team member. Poor Bit was still trying to get the ringing in his ears to stop.  
  
"Jeez, Lena, how do you get enough air to scream that loud?" asked Bit. He was rewarded with a bonk on the head.  
  
"None of your business," she said, a vein popping in her head. Ligress was waiting by the hover cargo. "Hey, Tori, how do you suppose Ligress got out of the garage to answer your whistle?" she asked.  
  
"Well, Zoids usually push the button to open the door," she said, slightly sarcastically. Lena looked confused.  
  
"What are you talking about? I don't know any Zoids that are smart enough to open a door by pushing the button," she said.  
  
"Liger did it," piped up Bit. Lena whirled around.  
  
"He did? When?"  
  
"When Liger was nearly stolen by the Backdraft group. I didn't think it was that big of a deal, either. He always does that," said Bit.  
  
"But my Gunsniper never opens the door by itself. I always have to open it," said Lena.  
  
"Same with my Raynos," said Jamie.  
  
"And the Shadow Fox," said Brad. "All the time I've known him, he's never opened the garage by himself."  
  
"Hmm, interesting," muttered Doc. Lena turned on him.  
  
"What the hell is interesting this time, Dad?" she asked angrily.  
  
"It seems that the Liger and Ligress are, no offense, Lena, Brad and Jamie, smarter than the Raynos, Shadow Fox and Gunsniper. Tori says her Ligress doesn't spend a lot of time in garages, yet she could open it by herself easily. What an interesting discovery!" exclaimed Doc. Lena sweat- dropped.  
  
"So, you're saying I have a dumb Zoid???" she asked.  
  
"No, not at all, the Liger and Ligress are just a little more intelligent, that's it. It must be an effect of their being Ultimate-X's," explained Doc hurriedly, so as not to upset his daughter.  
  
By the time they'd reached the hover cargo, Lena seemed to have forgotten it, and was buzzing around about having another girl to talk to, finally.  
  
"Oh, my God! We're going to have SO much fun! We'll get to watch my favorite soap operas, maybe do each other's hair and nails . . .," She was still rambling on when a message suddenly showed up on the computer screen in the living room.  
  
"Hello, Blitz Team, it's the Backdraft Group," came the deadly voice.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Tori the Hanyou: Ooo, cliffy! WOW! Finally, my first new chappie for this story is complete after about a year of writer's block on it! I'm sooo excited! Again, I want to thank the following people:  
  
TheWraith1: Thanks for the encouragement, I really appreciate it!  
  
Biddett da Pigeon Stalker: Thanks for your kind words, and I'm so happy to have finally recontinued this story!  
  
Silver: Yup, I'm done w/ Chappie 2!  
  
Chanco: Actually, I got the idea from the show, and when I looked it up on the Internet, I found that ligers were actually real. I then wondered what they would call a girl (combine Tigress and Lioness) and I got Ligress! It's not spelled the same way as urs, but be rest assured, I didn't steal it from you, lol! Wow, talk about major coincidence. I'll think about co- authoring, yeah! Email me about it; my email address is on my author's page.  
  
Cya!  
  
~*Tori the Hanyou*~ 


	3. The Betrayal

Tori the Hanyou: Wow, already Chapter 3! This is so cool! I know, I left you guys at a cliffy last time, so I'm gonna skip the usual crap and get you guys right into the next chappie!  
  
DISCLAIMER: Check the other chapters  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Unknown Ultimate-X  
  
Chapter 3: Betrayal  
  
"What do you want this time, Backdraft?" asked Bit. He was still ticked off for Liger's attempted kidnapping.  
  
"Actually, we weren't interested in talking about the Liger-Zero today," replied the voice. Everyone was shocked. "We wanted to introduce our newest member. He shows major promise, especially since he can pilot the Berserk Fury."  
  
Tori squinted at the screen. Something about the figure behind the man on the screen was familiar.  
  
"Before we show him, we just wanted to congratulate you on your newest member," continued the voice. "This young man here claims to know her, don't you, Taylor?" He turned to the figure behind him. Stepping out of the shadows was a fifteen-year-old boy about 5'11'' with short brown hair and dark brown eyes.  
  
"Hey, sis," he said, in a not-too-nice tone. Tori's eyes widened.  
  
"T-Taylor? But . . .but how could you . . .I haven't seen you in . . ."  
  
"Four years? Yeah, it's a long time. But, as you can see, I've found some new people to hang with. Happy reunion, Victoria." With that he turned and walked out a door. Tori stared after him, tears in her eyes. She didn't even want to listen to the rest of the conversation. She turned and raced out the door.  
  
Lena looked after her new friend worriedly, and followed.  
  
Tori raced down the stairs and out on the porch outside her and Lena's room. It was raining, and a distant rumble of thunder could be heard. Tori stood, looking over the plains. She pulled up the sleeve of her shirt, revealing a small bracelet. It was gold, with a small locket hanging from it. She took off the bracelet and opened the locket, revealing a minute picture of Taylor giving her a noogie. They were both laughing. The tears spilled over as she stared at their happy faces.  
  
Closing the locket in a fist, and shutting her eyes tight, Tori suddenly threw the bracelet as far as she could. It landed far away from the balcony on which she stood. She sank down against the wall, tucking up her legs and crying into her knees. (If you've ever seen Swan Princess, the animated version, imagine 'Far Longer Than Forever' playing on the piano in the background)  
  
Lena spotted Tori outside, and opened the door. She knelt down next to her.  
  
"Tori?"  
  
"It can't be true!" cried Tori, raising her head. Lena looked at her. Her eyes were blood red from crying. "We haven't seen each other for four years! And the first I see of him, he's gone and joined the side that just happens to be the enemy of the team I joined! Why was he being so mean to me?" she sobbed.  
  
"Tori, I . . ."  
  
"He and I used to have so much fun together . . .we were more than just siblings, we were best buds! He'd make me laugh whenever I felt down, but now . . ."  
  
"Tori, maybe that wasn't him," said Lena, before Tori could launch into another tear fit. Tori stared at her like she was nuts.  
  
"Lena, you don't think I wouldn't know my own brother anywhere?"  
  
"Listen, what I'm saying is, maybe that was some sort of hologram, or robot, or a hired person," explained Lena.  
  
"But why would they want to turn my own brother against me?" asked Tori.  
  
"Maybe, because they really do have him on their side, but if he knew you were on ours, he wouldn't fight us as hard, and that wouldn't be good for the Backdraft Group. He probably told them your name, and that you were his sister, and they just found out about your joining our team, so they decided to turn the tables in their favor."  
  
Tori thought long and hard. She turned to look at Lena.  
  
"That might be it, Lena, thanks." She stood up, drying her eyes. The rain stopped as she ran inside. Lena stood up.  
  
'Man, I come up with the craziest things these days,' she thought.  
  
Tori stopped out the front door as the clouds began to part. A beam of sunlight shot through, right on the bracelet she'd thrown off the balcony. She ran to it, picking it up, smiling at the sky. 'I'm coming, Taylor,' she thought.  
  
~*Six days later*~  
  
The four Blitz Team members launched out of the hover cargo. Across the desert battlefield, the Lightning Team climbed out of their HQ. The three Lightning Sykes came racing across the desert at their opponent. They stopped when they saw the Liger in its normal form, facing them.  
  
"You really think you can beat us without your fancy armor?" laughed the front pilot.  
  
"Um...let me think...yeah," said Bit, confident. Tori and the Ligress appeared beside him. "The Liger and the Ligress are gonna take all of you down, right now!" With that, Ligress shot behind them, barely giving anyone time to blink, slashing the middle Sykes's back legs. It fell to the ground, startling the other two. Bit smirked, racing at the right one, taking it out with one Laser Claw Attack. "Looks like you guys are big on talk, but not on defense, and not on speed anymore," smirked Bit. The left one tried to run, but Lena chased after it, going mad with her Weasel Assault. (Big surprise . . .-_-;;)  
  
"The battle is over! The battle is over! Victory goes to...the Blitz Team!" called the robot judge.  
  
"Wow, that was quick, hope that means we get more cash," said Brad.  
  
"Doesn't look like it's over just yet," came Jamie's voice over the microphones. "Look up." Everyone did.  
  
Coming right at them was an enormous Whale King. "Looks like the Backdraft wants a personal talk with us. Over and out." Jamie closed the link.  
  
Ligress growled. Tori's eyes widened. Lena, recovering from her rush of insanity, walked over to her. Liger put up his spikes, walking over to the Ligress. They were giving each other low growls.  
  
"Hey, Bit? Are our Zoids talking?" asked Tori. Bit examined Liger and nodded.  
  
"Looks like it, he's probably warning her about the Backdraft's rep."  
  
The huge Whale King landed. The doors opened, and out stepped none other than the Berserk Fury. The Backdraft Leader came up on their intercoms.  
  
"Hello, again, Blitz Team."  
  
"What now?" snapped Bit.  
  
"We're here to have a battle with you, of course!" came the response.  
  
"Why? We just had one!" said Lena angrily.  
  
"Yes, therefore, your Zoids aren't at their fullest power," said the Leader.  
  
"Actually, they're fine. It didn't take anything to wipe out the Lightning Team," said Brad calmly.  
  
"Easy for you to say, you didn't do anything! I'm out of ammo from my Weasel Assault!" cried Lena.  
  
"Hold on, Lena," said Jamie, coming up over the intercom. "I'll take the Raynos out in your place while you go get your ammo replenished, ok?" Lena agreed, and hurried back to the hover cargo.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" came a voice from the Berserk Fury. Suddenly, a shot fired from one of the cannons, straight at the Gunsniper.  
  
"Lena!" cried Bit. He sent the Liger after the Gunsniper, and tackled it out of the way, just in time. The shot went zipping overhead, blowing up a large hill a half-mile off.  
  
Tori stood there in shock. Taylor had fired at one of her friends! Ligress growled furiously. She let out an immense roar, charging at the Fury. It shot, but the Ligress vanished, reappearing on the Fury's neck, her fangs buried deep in the back of it.  
  
"Wow, that was fast," commented Brad.  
  
Bit opened his eyes and looked out the windshield at the fallen Zoid.  
  
"Lena?" he called over the intercom, "You okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks, Bit," said the pilot as she got her Gunsniper to stand up. There was an awkward silence for a minute, until Bit heard the angry roar of the Ligress, and soon the cries of the Fury. The two turned to see the enemy Zoid's head thrashing here and there, with the furious Ligress clinging to the back of its neck by its teeth and front claws.  
  
"You'd better get back, now," said Bit calmly.  
  
"But..."  
  
"No buts! Do it!" said Bit sharply, and Liger nudged the Gunsniper towards the hover cargo.  
  
"Okay, okay, I'm going!" she said, hurrying off. Bit kept his eye on her until she was safely back inside, and Jamie came launching out of the top level.  
  
"Let's go, Bit! Quit standing around!" snapped Jamie as his Raynos pilot side took over and he became a whole different person.  
  
"I'm coming!" Bit turned the Liger, and headed towards the Fury, where the Shadow Fox was trying to shoot it in the face. Suddenly, the Fury fell over backwards, purposely slamming its head into the ground. When the dust cleared, it rose to its feet, and in a crater in the ground, there lay the fallen Ligress. The Fury aimed all of its guns, particularly its Neutron Cannon, at the Zoid, but a green blur zoomed in, slicing off the ends of most of the artillery.  
  
"HAHA! Take that, you oversized gecko!" cried Jamie as he swooped in, aiming for the Neutron Cannon this time. Suddenly, one of the undamaged lasers pointed at Raynos, firing. Jamie barely dodged it, but it grazed the Raynos's underside. "Damnit!" he cursed, as he swooped away to analyze the damage.  
  
Bit raced for the crater while Brad and Jamie had the Fury distracted.  
  
"You ok?" he asked.  
  
"Ugh, never...been...better..." came the injured, yet sarcastic voice of the fourteen year old. "Ligress? You ok, girl?" The Ligress gingerly stood up, shaking herself. "Take it easy, that was a rough blow we took," said Tori. The Ligress nodded.  
  
"Isn't he your brother?" asked Bit.  
  
"Yeah, but brother or not, no one hurts my friends," said Tori as she launched for the Fury again. It turned its laser at the Fox, who was still firing at its supposed weak places, like its joints and face. The laser fired in a wide range this time, and Brad couldn't move out of the way. He was blasted off his feet, landing a few hundred yards away.  
  
"Go, Liger! Laser Claw Attack!"  
  
"Ligress, Deadly Slash!"  
  
Both Zoids roared in anticipation as they leapt at the enemy Zoid. Suddenly, the Fury moved quickly, slicing its tail through the air, crashing it into Liger. Bit's yell of surprise could be heard as Liger flew through the air, landing hard on his back at the foot of a hill. As it completed its tail swipe, the Fury shot Ligress off course with the laser gun. Jamie swooped in for another attack, but got caught in the line of fire as the wide-range laser struck him again on the underside, and the Raynos spun out, crashing into the ground.  
  
Over the intercom, the Leader's voice yelled,  
  
"Come on, Berserk Fury! Destroy the Ligress first! Then get that annoying kid Bit and his Liger! Move it!"  
  
The Berserk Fury's Neutron Cannon pointed straight at Ligress again. With Jamie down and out, there was no way she'd be saved this time. Unless...  
  
'I don't think that was him...it was probably a robot, or hologram, or hired person...' Lena's voice came in her mind.  
  
Tori struggled to move her hand to the intercom button. Ligress's hit had caused her to be thrown into the back of the seat, and then again into the front dashboard, nearly giving her whiplash. Her entire body felt like it was bruised. She hit the button, calling...  
  
"Taylor, don't...do it..."  
  
"What? How do you know my name? Who are you?" Taylor's face appeared on the screen.  
  
"Hey...bro..." Taylor's brown eyes widened.  
  
"V-Victoria? What the...how did you..."  
  
"Nice seeing you again..."  
  
"Why are you on their side?"  
  
"Because...they're my friends..."  
  
The Backdraft Leader's voice came up again.  
  
"What are you doing??? Destroy it!"  
  
"Why would I attack my own sister?" retorted Taylor.  
  
"What the...so you know..." he said, in a low, evil voice. Tori's eyes widened with suspicion. "Berserk Fury, retreat!" he called.  
  
"Hold on a minute! Can't I at least have some time to talk to her? We haven't seen each other in..."  
  
"I know how long!" came the voice, apparently very irritated. "No! You can't! Retreat now, or suffer the consequences!"  
  
"Ugh...like...what?" said Tori, angry, yet still hurt. "You're...separating...two siblings who...actually want...to talk...to each other? You're...sick..." she managed to gasp out.  
  
"That's enough out of you, brat!" The Whale King fired a shot, blasting the already damaged Ligress another few hundred yards back. "Berserk Fury, come back, now! Or your sister will suffer the same fate you almost did!" The Ligress was already furious. Bit had been up for a while now, watching the scene. He raced for the Whale King.  
  
"WEASEL ASSAULT!!!!" screamed an all-too-familiar voice. Suddenly a bunch of bullets blasted the Whale King's side, leaving a considerable dent. "Don't you DARE hurt one of my friends!" yelled the fearsomely furious redheaded pilot as she stepped in front of Ligress, who was rising to her feet.  
  
"Lena...thanks..." said Tori. "Ligress and...I will take it from here."  
  
"Oh, no you don't, you're not having all the fun," retorted Lena. Bit had leapt for the cargo door. Fury stood there, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, the Fury began to glow red.  
  
"Wha-what's going on?" yelled Taylor as the Berserk fury began to race towards the Whale King.  
  
"I'm using a remote control system previously built into Fury!" yelled the BD Leader. "Since you won't get back here, I'm making you!"  
  
"Taylor! Try to open the cockpit door and jump out!" called Tori, suddenly energized.  
  
"I...can't...it won't budge!"  
  
"Hang on, Ill get it open!" cried Bit as he raced for the Fury. Suddenly, its laser cannon struck him again. "Damn! I can't get close!" he called after many repeats of this.  
  
"TAYLOR!!!" Tori screamed as the Fury reached the King, leapt inside the door, and the gigantic Zoid flew off. She felt rage. Ligress felt the feeling pulsing from her partner, and it affected her, too. She turned to the Whale King's retreating form, and gave an absolutely furious roar that echoed throughout the battlefield, and gave chase.  
  
"Tori, don't!" cried Lena. Tori didn't hear her. As they ran, Ligress snarled at it as it continued to get smaller. Tears forming in her eyes, Tori finally ordered Ligress to quit it. Tori jumped out of the cockpit onto the ground, watching as the Whale King continued its flight, getting smaller and smaller, until it had disappeared altogether. Tori blinked, sending the precipitation down her cheeks.  
  
"I'll have your heads...Backdraft..." she gasped through gritted teeth. Ligress lowered her head sadly. They had failed. She lay down next to her friend as Tori sat down, watching the sky for what seemed like eternity.  
  
He was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Tori the Hanyou: Well, how'd you like that? I know, I'm still VERY busy with my other fics, but this one's finally been updated! Yay! 10 reviews for just two chapters! Whoopee! I'm happy! *does little dance* Anywho, thanks to all of y'all for reviewing! Cya next chappie!  
  
~*Tori the Hanyou*~ 


	4. Meet the Stryker Team!

Tori the Hanyou: Chappie 4 is here! Thanks, Blue Eyes Knight, for giving me an idea for this chappie! It's yet another sibling feud as we introduce two younger siblings of two of the stars of our current fic. You'll find out who they are in a while...muahahahahaha...just b patient!  
  
DISCLAMIER: No, I don't own Zoids, only Tori, Taylor, the Ligress Zero, and one of the siblings to be introduced...Blue Eyes Knight owns the other one! ^- ^  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Unknown Ultimate-X  
  
Chapter 4: Meet the Stryker Team!  
  
Tori grieved for some time over Taylor's 'kidnapping' as she angrily put it later on. She continued to stare into the sky as storm clouds came piling in.  
  
But, let's leave Tori for a minute and find out just how Taylor came to be the Berserk Fury's new pilot...  
  
*Going back...sort of...  
  
"VEGA! For the last time, get back here with the Fury! You're gonna damage it running around like that!!" screamed Dr. Layon. He was yelling at a kid no more than 13 who was racing none other than the Berserk Fury around out on a battlefield, having fun with his victims. They weren't about to be the victims for long, though...  
  
"Oh, relax! I know what I'm doing!" called back the young pilot. He had black hair with grayish-brown eyes, and was about 5'4" tall. "Besides, these guys are fun!" As soon as he said it, though, the four Zoids he'd been attacking jumped around him in a ring formation.  
  
"Ready, team? FIRE!" yelled one of the pilots.  
  
"What the..." began Vega. He never got a chance to finish. Four sets of ammunition hit him from all sides.  
  
When the dust cleared, Vega noticed the four Zoids racing at him, and he leapt over them with the Fury and raced for the Whale King, making it in just in time.  
  
"THAT'S IT!!!" came the voice as Vega came in. The Backdraft head committee was headed towards him, followed by their newest Backdraft member, guess who... "Just look at it! The Fury's a wreck!" Suddenly, the cockpit of the Fury began trembling violently.  
  
"Hey! Wh-what's going on?" Vega asked in a panicked voice. Everyone around the Fury froze as the Zoid rumbled furiously. The hatch flew open, and Vega went flying out of the cockpit.  
  
"VEGA!!!" screamed his mother as she raced to catch him. She was unsuccessful, though, as the young boy flew into a large bin of laundry that conveniently passed by.  
  
Everyone turned back to the immense Zoid as it gave a mighty roar, making everything tremble.  
  
"What's going on? Why did this happen?" asked Layon angrily as he turned to one of his scientists.  
  
"W-well...apparently..."  
  
"Spit it out!" he yelled.  
  
"Th-the Zoid has disowned its chosen one..."  
  
"It can't do that!! Vega's THE chosen one! There's no one else to be its pilot! What'll happen now??"  
  
"Well, if there's no other chosen one, it'll go back to where it came from to wait for the new one to arise..."  
  
"It CAN'T do that! I went to great pains to unbury that thing from the bottom of the ocean!" yelled Layon in frustration.  
  
Suddenly, the Zoid turned its immense head to the boy standing behind the BD committee. It gave a small growl, and began walking towards them. "Now what?" The Fury stopped in front of them, lowering its head to none other than Taylor.  
  
"What's it doing?" the boy asked, confused.  
  
"It has found a new pilot..." said the scientist. Everyone turned to face the newest BD member.  
  
"Me? I'm supposed to drive this thing?" asked Taylor.  
  
"Yes, so it seems..." said Layon, rubbing his chin. "But why did it disown Vega, I wonder? Must've been because of his carelessness and overconfident attitude..."  
  
"And what does that mean?" snapped Vega's mother, standing behind him, holding Vega by the arm. The boy looked half in shock.  
  
"Apparently, it means we are no longer in need of your son's services," said Layon, with a slight smirk.  
  
"WHAT? You know you need Vega! He's the only one who knows how to pilot this giant piece of...whatever!" said the woman angrily.  
  
"I don't think that's necessary, the Fury doesn't WANT Vega anymore, it's now chosen him!" said Layon proudly, gesturing a hand towards Taylor. "Obviously, it, like me, was getting EXTREMELY tired of Vega's disrespectful and cocky attitude!"  
  
"You...Grr...come on, Vega!" snapped his mom, dragging the boy away. Dr. Layon turned to Taylor, and was about to congratulate him, when a BD employee ran up to him, and whispered something in his ear.  
  
"WHAT????" he yelled. He turned to Taylor. "Come on, you. You need to learn about our worst enemy, since you're going to be facing them in battle with the Fury."  
  
He led Taylor up the stairs into the computer room. "But first," he said, stopping him. "Pull up that picture of the girl," he told one of the computer workers. Nodding, the man soon had Tori's picture on the screen. "Do you know her?" he asked. Taylor's jaw dropped.  
  
"That's my sister!" he cried. "Where is she?" he asked.  
  
Now that Layon knew Taylor had a bond with his sister, an idea was going in his head. He began making up a story as he went.  
  
"She's...a Zoid pilot now...but she pilots a...Shield Liger, and she works for the Zoid Battle Commission. Don't worry; she's not a fighter..." he lied.  
  
"That's good, so I won't face her in battle, will I?" he asked.  
  
"No chance, unless the ZBC tries to get in our way," said Layon. "Then I won't even use you, unless we need drastic measures. Now, Jake, take Taylor to the other room and show him the information about the Blitz Team."  
  
Another man came up and led Taylor out the door, but Layon pulled Jake aside for a second before he left. "Whatever you do, do NOT let him know that girl's on the Blitz Team, got it?" he snapped. The man nodded, and left.  
  
He repeated it again to the workers in the room when Taylor was gone, and they acknowledged him with a nod. "If he learns that she's on the other side, he won't fight them! So, let's get moving, people! Hustle, hustle!" They needed to get to work on the Fury's repairs, fast.  
  
*And now, BACK TO THE PRESENT!!!!!  
  
Taylor jumped out of the Fury in the dark garage as Dr. Layon came striding up to him.  
  
"I told you to come back here! When I want something done, you do it!" he said angrily. Taylor glared.  
  
"I'm NOT gonna fight my own sister!" he retorted, "You lied to me! You said she wasn't a fighter! You also said she piloted a Shield Liger, that Zoid she was piloting didn't look, or fight, like one!"  
  
"Listen, you," said Layon in a low voice, "We need you to defeat them! They're our worst opponents!"  
  
"Listen, and write it down, FOR-GET IT!" snapped Taylor, turning away to walk out the door.  
  
"Stop him!" yelled Layon, and the surrounding workers instantly grabbed Taylor. "Take him to the room, NOW!"  
  
"Which room, sir?"  
  
"You know which one, you blockhead! The one where we take disobedient pilots!"  
  
"Ohh...THAT one..."  
  
"Yes, you moron! Now move it!"  
  
The workers filed away, dragging Taylor with them and ignoring his screams of protest.  
  
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I'LL..." He didn't finish; the doors had shut with a resounding boom.  
  
Grumbling, Layon turned away. One of the other workers approached him.  
  
"Umm, sir, why didn't we put Vega in that room before? It would've saved us a lot of trouble..."  
  
"Silence, you idiot! We couldn't put Vega in there because his mother wouldn't allow it! Now shut up! I'm really starting to get tired of these kids. At least now this one'll obey me properly..."  
  
*Back with the Blitz Team...  
  
"Everyone okay?" asked Bit as he jumped out of the Liger, and walking up next to Lena, who was watching in the distance.  
  
"Yeah, we're fine," called Jamie from the slight wreckage of his Raynos.  
  
"No bad injuries here," said Brad in his usual monotone voice. Bit looked curiously at the girl next to him. Her gaze was full of worry.  
  
"Lena?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," she said. "When's Tori getting back? She just took off...maybe I should go look for her..."  
  
"Listen, Lena, if there's one thing I know, it's to NEVER get involved with a family issue," said Bit sagely. Lena looked at him strangely.  
  
"Since when are you such a Wiseman?" she asked.  
  
"Ah, that, I shall NEVER tell," said Bit humbly. Lena shook her head at the goofy antics.  
  
"Whatever..."  
  
"Hey you guys, Tori's back!" called Jamie. "And here comes Doc, just in time!" he added sarcastically.  
  
"Grr, Dad...he was probably playing with his Zoid models the whole time...lazy..." muttered Lena. She turned to see the Ligress coming over the hill. In the other direction came the hover cargo. "Tori!" cried Lena, running up to her. Tori raised her head from inside the cockpit, jerking out of her thoughts.  
  
"Hey, Lena," she said weakly, jumping out of the cockpit and climbing down to stand next to her.  
  
"So? Did you get 'em?" asked Lena hopefully. Tori shook her head with a disheartened no. "What do you think they'll do to him?" asked Lena. Tori's eyes narrowed painfully.  
  
"I have no idea," she answered, clutching her fists, "But I swear, if they do ANYTHING to him, I'll personally make sure NONE of them EVER see the light of day again!" she snarled. Lena sighed. There was no way they'd catch the Backdraft, but she felt bad for Tori. Her big brother was being forced to fight her. She remembered her own brother, how he used to be on the Blitz Team, yet he'd left.  
  
"Let's go, Tori, this isn't worth it," said Lena. "We'll figure out something, but first you gotta repair the poor Ligress. Look at her." Tori did, and saw the slight damages that would definitely need repairing. She sighed.  
  
"Okay, come on, Ligress," she said as the HC pulled up.  
  
"I've got a little bone to pick with Dad," said Lena, marching inside, calling the Gunsniper in after her. Tori blinked, and brought the Ligress in, followed by Liger, the Shadow Fox, and small hands on the side of the HC reached out and picked up Jamie's Raynos.  
  
"Man, I'm gonna be working all night," said Jamie as he examined the damage. "What the hell was I thinking?"  
  
*Meanwhile, far away from the Blitz Team's location...  
  
"Come on, Vega! You've been working for HOURS! It's fine!" snapped a blond-haired boy with aquamarine eyes.  
  
"No, way! This thing's GOTTA be perfect if I want to wreak my revenge!" retorted the former Berserk Fury pilot. He jumped down from his new Zoid's shoulder to stand next to the other boy.  
  
This other boy's name was Jett Cloud, Bit Cloud's little brother. He was 14 years old, looking just like his older sibling, except smaller. He was about 5'8" tall. He was normally a shy kid, but when he was only with his teammates, he was comfortably talkative.  
  
"Oh, give it a rest, Vega! All you've been talking about since we formed this team is 'wreaking your revenge'! Would ya give it a rest so we can get moving?" asked a girl as she came out from behind the front leg of her Zoid. She had blonde, almost white hair with bright blue eyes. She was 5'1", and 12 years old.  
  
"Shut up, Jewel! Or should I say, JULIETTE!" retorted Vega. In a few seconds, he was being held by his shirt collar.  
  
"If you EVER call me that again, I'm gonna bash in your head so fast, your mommy's gonna feel it!" snapped Juliette in her Californian accent. Jett snickered.  
  
"Yeah, and she'll probably come to kiss his boo-boo's!"  
  
Both burst out laughing, while a flustered Vega glared at them both. "What a Momma's Boy!" said Jett. Juliette released Vega and turned to continue work on her pink Zaber Fang.  
  
"I wanna get out of here too, but this right leg's gonna need some work. It seems to stiffen up a little bit when I turn," she explained. Vega went over to help her while Jett looked up at his Zoid.  
  
It was a red Blade Liger; fully loaded with the most guns it could carry without losing speed advantages. It also had new, sharp-as-razor, ten- meter long blades on its sides and a power shield for defense purposes.  
  
Juliette's Zaber fang was also equipped with plenty of ammunition, and it, too, was a high-speed Zoid. As mentioned before, it was pink, with bright silver fangs and claws for close-range combat.  
  
Vega's Zoid was none other than an Elephander. It was forest green, loaded with guns, missiles, grenades, and even torpedoes that went underground. This was a strength and firing Zoid, not at all meant for high speed. Yet if it ran enough, it gained enough momentum to go at a pretty considerable pace. This was used for charging a stationary opponent, or one that had been immobilized, or broken beyond movement.  
  
Vega had been perfecting the movements of his Zoid since the three of them had met. He was intent on avenging his pride on the Backdraft, for simply kicking him out as soon as his Zoid had disowned him. His mother had fully backed him in the project. With the help of Juliette and Jett, he didn't think there was anyone who would stand in his way.  
  
Except Bit, Bit Cloud. Without his Berserk Fury, Vega now lacked the Ultimate-X power required to defeat the Liger Zero. He didn't care though. The Backdraft was his main target for now. They had an Elephander too, but he thought the pilot took off with it a long time ago...he'd find out when he fought them.  
  
Jett and Bit had never gotten along since Bit became Liger's owner. His big brother had made such a name for himself, that Jett figured the only way to make himself a bigger name and exceed everyone's expectations was to defeat Bit in a Zoid battle. He intended to use Jewel and Vega's help to the end.  
  
Juliette hated it when people called her by her real name. It brought up memories of her family. Her parents had died. She, her brother and sister had been thrown out into the world at different orphanages. She hadn't seen either for over four years. Only her family called her Juliette. She only joined the two of them because they'd been nice to her, and they were the only friends she had left. She intended to help them out.  
  
She was also very tough. Since her family's separation, she had been very withdrawn and secretive about her past, but that was how all three of them were. Jett was normally a shy person; heck, when they'd met, he barely spoke at all.  
  
It felt better to know that he spoke more openly around her and Vega. Neither felt like strangers to one another. They had been training in battles for a long time, and whenever anyone asked them their names, they would simply respond,  
  
"We're the Stryker Team." That was their title. Jett smiled to himself when he looked back on how far all three of them had gone. Sure, it was for their own purposes, but their teamwork was remarkable. He hoped that'd be enough to take down his brother's entire 'squad', as he called it.  
  
After God-knows-how-long, Juliette and Vega finally decided their Zoids were ready for another battle, the big one for Jett, and a small side quest for the other two.  
  
They leapt into their Zoids and filed out of Vega's garage. They all stayed at Vega's house, since they were all under 18. They raced off across the desert, at least as fast as the Elephander would go.  
  
*Three days later...  
  
Tori awoke that morning to a siren going off. Lena was hurriedly pulling on her clothes.  
  
"Whassa matter?" asked Tori sleepily.  
  
"We're being attacked," said Lena. "You wanna join the fun?"  
  
"Sure," she said, yanking on her clothes and racing downstairs after Lena. Lena suddenly stopped dead in the kitchen doorway, making Tori smack into her shoulder.  
  
"Bit," said Lena in an all-too-sweet voice. Tori peered around her shoulder. Bit was holding a chocolate-chip cookie, and a jar labeled 'Lena's Cookies' had its top off. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY COOKIE??????" Tori sweat-dropped.  
  
"Uh, Lena, I don't think this is the time to..."  
  
"Tori! Go deal with whoever's out there while I take care of THIS menace!"  
  
"But..."  
  
"NOW!!!"  
  
"Okay!" Tori zipped out of the kitchen in time to hear Bit scream, and thunderous footsteps went pounding down the hallway, fading slowly. She passed the living room to see Jamie and Brad just about to head down to the garage too. Bit and Lena came flying through the living room and out at that second. "Those two like each other, don't they?" asked Tori. The other two nodded and they all went to the garage.  
  
Brad jumped into the Shadow Fox, and Jamie in his newly repaired Raynos. Tori climbed into her Ligress, who opened the hanger door, and all three raced out.  
  
"Blitz Team, we challenge you!" came a young voice across the new battlefield. The three team members looked up on the hill to see three Zoids looking down at them.  
  
"Uh, can we help you?" asked Brad.  
  
"We just said what we wanted!" yelled another voice, older-sounding than the first. "Where's Bit Cloud?" he asked.  
  
"Uh...he's not here at the moment, please leave a message at the roar," said Tori. Ligress followed up with her battle cry, a jaguar-like roar.  
  
"Well, then, we'll have to take you guys out first, I suppose!" cried a girl's voice. Tori paused. Something about that accent was familiar...  
  
The Elephander was first to attack, shooting an underground torpedo at the HC behind the three defending Zoids. It exploded, shaking the large craft. Tori turned to look at it, and back to the offenders.  
  
"You just made a big mistake, kid!" she snapped. She leapt at the large Zoid.  
  
Juliette turned her Zoid to attack the Ligress, but a sharp glare from Vega stopped her. He turned back to the fast-approaching Zoid.  
  
"No, I'm afraid you're the one who made the mistake. You have no idea who I am, do you?" he sneered.  
  
"Frankly, I really don't care!" cried Tori as she prepared for a close- range strike.  
  
"You asked for it..." Vega suddenly swiped out with the trunk of his Zoid, knocking Ligress completely off course, and off her feet. She flew to the ground, skidding up to the feet of the pink Zaber Fang, who drove her long fangs into her new victim. The two big cats battled it out, and Brad and Jamie attacked the Elephander, while Jett and his Blade Liger raced for the HC.  
  
"BIT CLOUD! COME OUT HERE NOW!" he called through his intercom.  
  
"No need to shout, kid, I'm right here!" yelled the all-too-familiar voice. There stood the Liger, in all its pride and might. Ligress used her back legs to kick the pink Zoid off easily and leapt up. Whoever this kid was, they were good, but she still didn't consider them very tough. It was only a kid, after all. She leapt over the Elephander to stand next to Bit, and soon Jamie and Brad had joined them. The three intruding Zoids lined up as well to face them. "What's all this about?" asked Bit.  
  
The Blade Liger stepped forward.  
  
"I'm here to challenge you," snapped the pilot.  
  
"Okay, but first things first, who the hell are you?" asked Bit, snapping back.  
  
"Why, don't you remember me, big brother?" came the voice again. Bit froze, his eyes widened.  
  
"J-Jett?" he asked.  
  
"That's right! It's me! I've come to earn my title as number one in our family!" said Jett angrily. "And with these companions by my side, there's no way I'll lose!" He nodded the Blade Liger's head towards the two Zoids behind him.  
  
"But Jett, why would you want to fight me?" asked Bit, calmer. He had no idea why his brother was acting like this.  
  
"Because!" he lashed out, "You're ALWAYS beating me at everything! It's always been Bit, Bit, Bit! No one's EVER noticed me! I used to look up to you, but that was until I realized I was being totally forgotten about! I'm sick of living under your shadow! The only way I can gain true respect is by beating you, and that's why I'm here! That's why I want to fight you!"  
  
Juliette looked in wonder at Jett as he furiously stood up to his older sibling. This was definitely not the quiet, reserved boy she'd met in the city...he was so...confident...and angry, too. She remembered how she would try to stand up to her big brother, but if she failed, her older sister had been there to stand up to him for her. Those two were always competing. The thought brought tears to her eyes. She looked out at the opposing Zoids, the Liger, Ligress, Shadow Fox, Raynos, and another one was emerging from the hanger door.  
  
"Hold on you guys! Don't start without me!" cried Lena as she leapt into battle position in her Gunsniper.  
  
"Where were you?" said Tori over the private intercom.  
  
"I found a new place to hide my cookie jar. Let's see Bit try to take cookies from it now!" she said with an evil glee in her tone. Tori sweat dropped.  
  
"Okay..."  
  
They turned back to see Jett frozen.  
  
"L-Lena?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah?" she replied.  
  
"Oh, umm...I didn't know you'd be fighting..." he said shyly. Juliette smacked a hand on her forehead. Why did he always get googly-eyed at pretty girls? Marching up to him, she smacked him with her Zaber Fang's tail.  
  
"Oh, quit it!" she said angrily. "We're here to fight, not drool over the other team!"  
  
Tori perked up. Something was DEFINITELY familiar about that voice.  
  
"What're your names?" she asked suspiciously. The three straightened up, announcing together,  
  
"We're the Stryker Team!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Tori the Hanyou: Muahahahaha! CLIFFHANGER!!!! Tee hee! Well, another end to another chapter. Guess whose sibling Juliette is! Okay, then! See you guys later! Tori the Hanyou signing out!  
  
P.S. Chapter title Preview: Sibling Battles 


	5. Sibling Battles

Tori the Hanyou: Okay, then, since I left you guys on a cliffie, LET'S GET MOVING ALREADY!!!  
  
DISCLAIMER: No, I only own Tori, Juliette, Taylor, the Ligress-Zero, and Blue Eyes Knight owns Jett! The rest I DON'T own!!!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Unknown Ultimate-X  
  
Chapter 5: Sibling Battles  
  
Tori sweat dropped.  
  
"Umm, okay...that's your team name, though. I'm asking your real names," she said.  
  
"Yeah, like we'd tell you!" snapped Juliette.  
  
"I just want to know something!" snapped Tori.  
  
"Well, you'll never know it with that kind of attitude!" said Vega. Tori growled.  
  
"It's okay, Tori," said Lena. "They're being babies. They're too scared to tell us their names, because they think we're gonna tell their mommies and daddies on 'em," she said loudly.  
  
Juliette flared up.  
  
"I don't HAVE a mom OR a dad!" she said angrily, "So you CAN'T tell on me!" Tori looked up. This girl had lost her parents, too. Suddenly, the Zaber Fang attacked. "I'll show YOU for calling me and my friends babies!" She leapt for Lena quickly, but Tori countered her, knocking her off balance. The Zaber Fang fell, skidding on her shoulder, but jumping up. She attacked again, leaping for Tori this time.  
  
Tori jumped up with ease, landing on the Zaber Fang, making her fall again. She stood on her opponent, holding her down.  
  
Jett saw Juliette in trouble.  
  
"Jewel! Hang on!" He raced for Tori, swiping with his Blade Liger's claws, but Tori leapt up, slicing him with the blade on the end of Ligress's tail.  
  
"Jett! Stay outta my business!" yelled Juliette.  
  
"Yeah, last I remember, you were asking for me," said Bit. Jett turned around angrily.  
  
"Ok, then, let's go!"  
  
He leapt for Bit, claws extended, boosters on. Bit leapt out of the way and cuffed him over the head with Liger's tail.  
  
Jett swerved around suddenly, catching Bit off guard and dealing him a hefty blow with his Blade Liger's claws, followed by a major beat down with his back legs.  
  
Bit fell to the ground. He couldn't believe it. His brother was FAST! He glared. Liger leapt for its new opponent, shooting at it with his small laser to distract it while he slashed at it with his claws.  
  
Suddenly, Bit felt the cockpit shudder. He checked the damage report. The blow from the Blade Liger had gotten him badly on the left shoulder, and Liger's leg wouldn't hold out much more.  
  
He saw that his recent attack had done some heavy damage as well. The face had been badly slashed, which would obviously make it hard for the Zoid to respond to commands.  
  
The two battled on, slashing and ripping at each other, while Lena, Brad and Jamie took on Vega.  
  
"Jamie, circle from above!" cried Lena.  
  
"Roger!" responded Jamie. Lena rolled her eyes. 'Who says roger anymore?' she thought.  
  
Jamie targeted the Elephander with his Raynos's lasers. "You're going down," he muttered, pressing the button on the trigger.  
  
A barrage of laser bullets fired from the Raynos, heading straight for the Elephander. Vega looked up, smirking at the novice pilot. 'So naïve...' he thought.  
  
Jamie suddenly gasped as his lasers came straight back at him.  
  
"Jamie!!" cried Lena.  
  
Too late; the lasers struck the Raynos, sending him spiraling. Brad raced at the Elephander, swerving in the Shadow Fox, aiming for the cockpit. He released his Fox's trademark move: the smokescreen, covering the area.  
  
He leaped, his Zoid stretching to its fullest length, ready for a major slicing and dicing combo.  
  
Then, a trunk appeared out of nowhere, connecting straight with the Fox, barely missing the cockpit, and hitting it in the chest, sending the Zoid flying.  
  
Brad felt the lurch of his stomach as his body was thrown backwards with the rest of his Zoid, the floating sensation, and the crash as he collided with the hard ground. He heard the crunch of something, but he was too absorbed in trying to avoid hitting his head to find out what it was.  
  
Jamie, too, was undergoing major pressure as his head began to spin from the fall. 2000 feet...1000 feet...500...  
  
Lena watched with horror, too frightened for her teammates to notice the Elephander racing at her, gathering momentum for a full-frontal tackle.  
  
Suddenly, a scream could be heard as the Raynos suddenly pulled up out of the dive, and brave laughter echoed through the intercoms as the Warrior Eagle emerged from Jamie's dazed mind.  
  
Lena sighed, nearly fainting from relief, when she heard the voice over the intercom call her name. She looked up to notice the huge shadow approaching her from the left. She gasped.  
  
Bit tore his eyes away from his opponent to see Lena's Zoid being charged, and she wasn't moving. Was something wrong? He couldn't tell.  
  
"Lena!" he called. He turned his back on his little brother, ignoring his Liger's protests as he charged for the Elephander, only to feel immense weight upon his Zoid as something landed on it.  
  
"Your battle's with me, bro," growled Jett. Now Bit was angry. He'd thought it cute at first that his brother was playing tough, and that turned to annoyance when his brother showed off his speed, but now it was too much.  
  
"Liger! Let's go!" the pilot called to his partner. Liger roared in agreement, and gave as much strength as his leg would allow to throw the Blade Liger off. He raced for Lena, freezing. "No..." he whispered. He was too late.  
  
Lena moved out of the way as best as she could, but the Elephander had gained enough momentum to move at a speed to make her escape attempts impossible. Besides, it wasn't like her Gunsniper was made for agility and avoidance. She cringed, waiting for the impact that could end it all for her Zoid...and for her...  
  
"I gotcha, Lena!" cried the young girl pilot as she leapt at the Elephander, shooting in front of its feet and at its leg joints, getting her claws in to make grooves in the ground. "Aim for his front legs, Lena! GO ALL OUT!!"  
  
That was all the redhead needed to hear. An evil smirk appeared on her face as she took aim. The Elephander wasn't made for agility either. Let it try to avoid what was coming.  
  
"FULL WEASEL ASSAULT!!" she cried, exploding her guns straight where Tori had told her. It worked. The Elephander's legs lost control, catching in the grooves Tori had made, sending it tumbling to the ground.  
  
Lena raced out of the way as it skidded right into where she'd been.  
  
Bit sighed. Warrior Eagle swooped down out of the clouds, watching with the hawk's eye he'd been born with. And with that eye, he spotted a certain pink Zoid heading straight for the smaller white one...  
  
"Tori! Zaber, behind you!" cried the Raynos pilot. Tori turned, just as the speed Zoid pounced upon her, digging her fangs into Ligress's front leg. The Ligress roared angrily, and Tori kicked out with her back legs, sending the Zaber Fang off of her. Ligress leapt to her feet, snarling. Tori glared. This kid was good with surprise...well, she wouldn't be getting any of that anymore.  
  
Juliette circled around the Ligress, coming near the back. Ligress jumped into the air, landing just on the other side of the Zaber as it fired, turning around with a major slash attack.  
  
Meanwhile, Bit had once more been dragged back into battle with his little brother, and both were working each other to the breaking point. Bit was becoming angrier by the minute, as was Jett (probably runs in the family).  
  
Juliette turned, and noticed Jett was starting to screw up, pretty badly. Obviously, with anger and frustration came messing up and problems. She gave Ligress one double kick with her back legs before springing off to help her teammate.  
  
"Jett! Remember to swerve after that kind of attack! We went over that back home!" she called. Jett was already angry enough, he didn't need help from anyone, especially a girl.  
  
"Just shut up, Juliette! I'm doing this MY way!" he yelled.  
  
Tori froze.  
  
"What...did...he say?" she whispered to herself. She looked out at the Zaber Fang, which had frozen when the Blade Liger pilot called her name.  
  
"DON'T EVER CALL ME THAT!!" the girl screamed angrily. Jett didn't hear her, he was trying to avoid Bit's Strike Razor Claw, which wasn't successful, and he wound up getting his left hindquarter gashed.  
  
"What was your name?" asked Tori quietly. The Zaber turned to face her.  
  
"What's it to you?" she snapped.  
  
"Did you ever lose your family?" asked Tori suspiciously.  
  
Juliette froze.  
  
"Yes..."  
  
"Your parents...dead...your siblings, nowhere to be found..." muttered Tori.  
  
The Zaber pilot's eyes widened.  
  
"H-how did you...I mean...who the hell are you??" she asked. To her surprise, the cockpit opened, and out jumped an all-too-familiar figure.  
  
"It's good to see you again, Juliette...I was beginning to think I'd never see my little sister again," said the figure. Juliette jumped out as well, trying to see the figure clearly.  
  
"Your little sister...it can't be..."  
  
"It's me...Victoria."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Tori the Hanyou: Aww, sibling stuff! Isn't that cute? Well, I'd say I'm going to redo the summary of this story, since it's no longer focused on the Ligress Zero, more like on the rejoining of three lost siblings, along with the joining of Lena and Bit ^-^; I also apologize for the shortness of the chappie, but I wanted to get this up, as well as my other stories' chappies I'm struggling with.  
  
I want to thank Blue Eyes Knight for helping me out with this and giving me the support and ideas for it, along with everyone else who's reviewed. THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH, and...Happy Arbor Day, even though I don't remember when that is...oh well.  
  
Cya!  
  
~*Tori the Hanyou*~ 


End file.
